waves at sunrise
by Trilies
Summary: Someone is leaving gifts for Kyoko on the path leading to her little home on the beach. Seashells, necklaces, sharks teeth... It's a mystery as to who it could possibly, until, one day, it isn't, and her life is changed forever.


There's a girl Tsuna likes.

She's beautiful, she really is, although that's not the reason he likes her. Rather, he thinks he likes her, and that makes everything else about her so wonderful that it steals his heart away. Her hair is long, long enough that the wind can play with it, tossing it to and fro, and it shines brilliant amber in the sunlight. There's nothing he's ever seen to describe the way she moves, honestly, although he adores watching her do so. Perhaps the closest he can come up with is that she's light as a feather on a sea breeze, slow and twisting, every turn and twirl a dance. He's never been close enough to tell, but he's certain her muscles are lithe and defined. If only he _could_ get close enough to tell, and to be able to realize the color of her eyes. He never can, however. It's not allowed. After all...

While she's beautiful, and wonderful, and so kind... She's human, as well.

He's not.

* * *

That doesn't change his feelings, of course. It's just... difficult. He wants to know so much about her, after all! How she learned to move like she does, what is life like for a human, what is life like for _her_ \- all that and more. Yet he's stuck to the rocks which line the shore and into the shallows and deeper waters. There, it's a little safer, at least this far away from the human settlement, and it works out for him, too, because it seems like her home is farther away from other humans as well. There, he's allowed to hide himself... There, it's where he first saw her.

To get involved with humans is dangerous. It's a phrase he's heard a thousand times in his life. Even just getting their attention by accident can bring ruin. That's not something he's ever wanted. Why would he? Tsuna has accepted that he's essentially a coward at his heart. All the horror stories he's heard about what humans could do to his kind... No. That's too much for him. Yet in the end... He can't stop himself.

It starts with a single gift, left for her on the sandy path that she takes every afternoon. Honestly, he feels a little bad for knowing a habit like that so well despite having never spoken to her... It seems almost predatory, in a way, like when orcas trail after larger prey. He'd never want to eat her, or anything like that! It's just... He can't talk to her even though he wants to. All he can do is make up for it, and show his appreciation, is in this silent, distant way. Having never spoken to a human before, he's not sure exactly the kinds of things they like, but he's seen her on the beach before. He's seen plenty of humans on the beach before, and the same thing seems to delight them so often: seashells.

He doesn't judge. How could he? Unlike humans, which cover themselves up so strangely and with so much, Tsuna wears only common decorations: half a dozen, if not more, seashell necklaces in all sorts of patterns and designs which are half tangled up together around his throat. Some crabs need them, but others don't, so it's fine to take them for himself. Besides, he can always take them off, can't he? At least seashells are something he understands, although he doesn't always see humans wearing them. Still, he can't imagine any other use for the shells than to admire them for their beauty... So it surely must be for the same thing, he figures. Thus, that's how he comes to leave a sea shell along the coast, right in the middle of the path she takes... As a "thank you", if nothing else.

While saying that sort of thing is easy, actually doing turns out to be... a lot harder. Part of it, admittedly, is his own fault. For days, he tries to untangle one of his own necklaces from around his throat, struck with a bad case of _romantic daydreaming_ at the idea of her wearing something that was once his. Unfortunately, his fingers aren't the nimblest things even on the best of days... and they're definitely no match for shells locked awkwardly around one another, or how strings have twisted themselves in knots that are impossible whether in the ocean or up in the salty air. Eventually, all he can do is surrender, and carefully searches out the next best thing. While shells are gorgeous and beautiful in all their shapes and sizes, something that looks empty might not be. It takes a long while and lots of poking with bones and sticks before he comes upon something utterly empty which doesn't snap out at him.

Success buoys him all the way to the shore again, where he hits his _second_ obstacle. Well, the beginning of his second obstacle. Sand isn't something foreign to him or anything, it really isn't. There's sand on the ocean floor. Yet somehow it feels completely different, so near to dry land. When he hits the proper shallows, away from all the jagged and rough rocks, Tsuna fumbles awkwardly. There's... not enough _room_. His tail can't twist above him to reorient himself against the sand, spines flaring helplessly against dry air, and the waves seem _stronger_ here than anywhere else he's been. Right as his hands are pressing against the sand, trying to get himself upright, water suddenly smashes into his back to propel himself forward until he's going facefirst into sand.

He hits the sand facefirst more than a couple of times, honestly.

By the time he's on the shore, water still hitting into his back just without as much force, bruises and scrapes litter his arms and chest. Dry land sand is so much scratchier and uncomfortable compared to that which he's shifted through on the ocean's bottom. Every little grain pricks against his scales, grinds against them like they'll stick in his tail forever. Water doesn't buoy him, allowing him to move effortlessly. He has to drag himelf, muscles straining harder than they ever have before and his fingers digging deep into the ground. Frankly, he's exhausted by the time he gets near enough to the human path to leave the shell behind for her. If there's any sort of consolation, it's that going back down into the water seems to be a lot easier than fighting upwards. Argumentative, the waves push back at him when he meets the ocean's cool embrace again, but Tsuna is used to _that_. He surges forward, rises and dives again and again to go back to deeper places, and lets himself drift, exhausted, when the tide finally won't wash him up on shore.

He is, for once, blissfully thankful for everything the water is.

There's no telling how many hours pass, his brain not exactly comprehending the sun's journey where it travels the sky up above the ocean, before sound filters in from the shore. No longer fueled by stubbornness or adrenaline, his muscles _burn_ with how much they ache. Still, Tsuna won't miss this for the world. Twisting his body through the water once more, he navigates the waves and rocks carefully, making sure not to accidentally crack his head. His body protests a little bit when he heaves himself up in the shallower rocky areas, peering carefully around it all, but that's okay. Seeing the human girl, light and beautiful against the land, is enough to make it all worth it. Sighing, he sinks against the rock, aware of his dumb doofy smile and not fighting against it even a little bit.

All the aches and bruises on his body are a more than acceptable price to pay when her face lights up as she inspects the shell in her hands.

So maybe, just maybe, he chases after that expression from then on. It's not that he's never gotten to make some people happy before; he has plenty of friends who would tell him so. However, it feels different this time. It feel as if he's really _done_ something to make that kind of expression blossom onto the stranger's face. If only he could talk to her, explain to her why it's so beautiful to him, why he's glad he appreciates the things he leaves for her.

His gifts are the best he can do, and he leaves lots of them, whenever he can find the time to drop by and visit. Shells are easy. Shells are _everywhere_. He still tries to find the particularly nice or strange ones, since they had earned such a good reaction the first time. No need to break what works, right? And it's not breaking, exactly, to string the shells through twine or string so that the make necklaces similar to his own. Anything else he can find, he does his best to. Fish bones worked into combs, seaweed wound together into decorations or patterns, the occasional odd bit of debris tossed away on the ocean currents from some boat or wreck... He searches with more effort than he's put into a lot of other things, and feels rewarded when he spots them taken from the shore the next day.

Today, his gift is especially rare, and something he'd had to really plead with his friend Takeshi to get. Yet when he turns the half of a shark's jaw in his hands, the light shifting and shining against pale bone, he figures it's worth it. It will definitely make the girl light up into that delighted smile again. Just the thought alone is enough to make him consider lingering around again, something he tries to keep a rare occasion. Sure, they'll never speak to one another, but he'll be alright just leaving her gifts that make her smile. So lost in his own head, he keeps almost dropping the jaw to the ocean, and pinpricks line his palms where he hastily grabs at it again.

He's had worse. It's fine.

* * *

Someone is leaving gifts for Kyoko along the beach.

Sometimes, she wonders if it's a little silly to think that it's all for her and her alone. Who's to say that it's not debris, washed in by the tide, a happy little accident of nature and nothing more? Yet she feels certain that's not it. If she's tricking herself, wanting to conjure up an imaginary and kind stranger, then it hurts no one, and makes her feel a little less alone in her cabin away from town.

And yet. And _yet_.

Can the tide really reach so far to the sandy path she takes going into town and leaving it? Can the tide wind together seaweed into lovely little shapes, perfect for hanging from her porch? Surely the tide can't bring to land shells she's never seen before in all her times alive, and she knows for a fact that there's no one in town that makes the kind of necklaces she's seen. Even if they had, why would they be so careless as to toss them to the sea?

So she's sure that there's someone out there. And while the mystery is enticing in its own way... Kyoko can't help but wonder if she'll ever meet this mysterious gift giver.

It's been a good a day as any when she begins to make her way back. Teaching the children back in town is fun, delightful, but... Tossing her head back, hair sliding over her shoulders to swing down, she wonders not for the first time if this is all her life will be. She likes each of the children she teaches dance to, of course! Their parents, in turn, don't seem to give her too much trouble, although she's well aware of how they try to keep their children from getting too close to her. No doubt they gossip regularly about how it's a shame such a pretty girl has such a temper that once lead her to punching out the assistant sports coach at the school. She knows they do; the snippets have made their way to her. It's for those reasons, and so many other oppressive social obligations it's expected she partake in, that has lead Kyoko to flee away to her cabin on the coast. She has a little more of her freedom, in exchange for longer trips to the market and a little bit of loneliness...

...And yet she still feels trapped. Stagnant.

Seeing that break in the beach path, like a break in the static of her life, has Kyoko pick up the pace, and her shoulder bag bangs against her hip with each bounce. Later tonight, or maybe in the morning, she knows it will likely leave a bruise, but she doesn't care. Instead, all her attention is on the brilliant white gleaming against the gold of the sand. For a few moments, she doesn't really understand what she's seeing until she's closer. There, sharp teeth pointing upwards, is half of a shark's jaw. She's never been good at telling apart the different species, although she knows every type of shark has different teeth, but their sharpness can't be denied. It's so different from the usual that her steps falter briefly. Still, who else could it be but her secret gift giver? Carefully, she crouches down with her knees drawn together to pick it up. There's one other thing that soon becomes clear to her once she does so: her gift giver has hurt themselves this time. Smears of red dot the rows of teeth along the jaw, standing out in stark contrast to the otherwise pristine white. Tentatively, she presses her finger against one, and it comes away wet.

They must still be nearby.

Rising up to her feet, she hastily looks around. Maybe they're hiding? Beach grass is to her left, rising up in various dunes before it hits softer grasslands and trees. To her right is the ocean, rocks scattered along the coast and rising up in the shallows. She's ventured through them, before, so they're no strange place to her. All sort of things dwell in there, save from some of the larger predators that might otherwise eat in the sea. But that just means... They're more than shallow enough for someone to scurry over and hide. If the're not there, however, then they'll have to have left. Still... Well, she has to try, doesn't she? It's the only place around to hide. Carefully putting the jaw back down into the sand, she straightens up and cups one hand around her mouth. "Hello?" she calls out, voice rising above the sounds of the ocean. "Are you still here? Is _anyone_ there?"

For a split second, she hears nothing, but then there's a loud splash- the kind that only happens when something quite large has hit the water. Is it her imagination that she sees something moving past the rocks? Before she can so much as step forward, there's a few more smaller splashes before a voice high pitched with worry calls back to her. "No! No one's here!"

Well now, that just makes her want to go _faster_. Laughing a little at the response, she slides the bag from her shoulder onto the ground and hikes up her sundress. It's a guy's voice, she thinks. "You can't talk to me," she says, hastily picking and climbing her way over the rocks, "and expect me to believe you're not here anymore! I'm Kyoko!"

She's not quite to the larger rocks yet- maybe a few meters left to go- before there's the sound of hands and nails scrambling against rock. He thrusts himself up so suddenly, nearly a jack in the box, that Kyoko is startled enough to nearly slip. With one hand keeping him upright and draped across the rock, the person thrusts a hand out. "Stop!" And stop she does, unsteady enough to flop down onto a rock just big enough to be a seat. Blinking, wide eyed, she takes in the look of him.

It really _is_ a boy, and much more of a mess than she thinks she was expecting. Then again, how can she be so surprised when all of his gifts have been things from the sea? His shoulders aren't particularly broad, but she's not oblivious. Her brother is a boxer, and she's hung out more than enough in her brother's gym to recognize the build of muscles that hold up all of his many seashell necklaces. There are so many of them, tangled up together so thickly as if they've built up over time and he grew them instead of stringing them up to wear. His hair is wild from where it is on his head, as if air has had its way with it... but it's the same warm brown of the sea salt chocolates that she's indulged on for special occasion.

His eyes are wide, brown, and beautiful.

Not bothering to stand up again right away, she tilts her head to the side with a smile. "Hello! Why do I need to stop?"

With the way he stares at her blankly for a moment, clearly flabbergasted, she suspects he wasn't expecting his command to actually work at all. Quickly shaking his head as if to snap out of it, he fumbles out, "You just... should!" His hands flop to the sides helplessly. "I was trying to hide."

"Why were you trying to hide?" she asks curiously, resisting the urge to get up and move ever closer. The more she looks at him, the more she can't help but be curious about him. Is his hair as soft as it looks, even though she knows it must be sopping wet with sea water? "I never get to thank you for the presents you leave me, after all. And you hurt yourself on this one! Are you still bleeding?"

"Huh?" Belatedly, he rubs at his face, cheeks tinging a distinct pink that has nothing to do with exertion. "Oh! It was just... I was clumsy. I almost dropped and lost it, and I had to grab it really fast... "His hand flops back down onto the rock. "I'm fine! I promise!"

Leaning forward, knees propping up her elbows which prop up her face, Kyoko leans forward curiously. "Well, thank you for bringing it to me," she says honestly. "I like it. I like all the things you bring me." Those words alone seem to perk him up, eyes wide, and he leans forward with one hand against the rock- only to wince and quickly pull it back. Well, that answers which hand got injured. Decisively, she stands up again and plants her foot on a different rock to take perhaps half a step forward. "Can I see your hand? I'd feel better if I knew you didn't get too hurt bringing me things."

All it takes is that half a step before panic flashes across the boy's face again, and he hastily thrusts the hand forward. "Here!" Still, she doesn't stop, not until the hand is right in front of her and she can reach up to delicately take it in her own. Nothing seems to be actively bleeding, which is a positive. However, that doesn't change the fact that dozens of bright red pinpricks are lined up against his callused palm and up along the lengths of his fingers. The rest of his skin is rubbed raw as well; he's clearly been climbing around the rocks with his injuries exposed to the open air like this. Lost in thought, Kyoko bites her lower lips. Is the salt water clean enough to have taken care of all those little wounds, or should she go back to her home to bring back her first aid kit?

And he still hasn't answered her question on why he's _hiding_ , either, she's noticed. That only makes her all the more curious. She's not so disrespectful as to try and peer over at him, not right _now_. It's possible that he's just a nude swimmer who forgot his clothes further up along the beach and he feels embarrassed. Still holding his hand, she flashes a teasing grin up at him. "Are you naked? Is that why you're hiding behind the rocks?"

With how flustered he's been this entire time, she's honestly expecting a little more from him than a simple blank blink above all his blushing. Then again, he was blushing as soon as she started to touch his hand, so she guesses she can't really take that as proof of anything. "Yeah... I don't want you to see me."

Considering what she's seen of his personality, that's a pretty blase statement coming from him. In fact, it's enough to offset the idea of him having been watching her while completely nude. From anyone else, she'd throw them back to the tide. Then again... maybe he's still distracted by her hands, and Kyoko idly flicks her thumb across his palm. His skin is so cool to the touch,and not at all wrinkled from being in the water too long although he must have had to. Her smile softens. "Where are your shorts? I can get them for you so that you don't have to worry anymore." And then, even though it's a horrible idea that would have her best friend Hana screaming, she adds, "And you can come to my place! I can show you where I've put all the different gifts you've left for me."

Then again, perhaps it won't mean as much to him as it will have for her. He can't have possibly known, this boy with his wide brown eyes and chocolate fluff hair, that her house had been bright and barren when she'd first moved in. Now, it's nothing like that empty shell in her memories. Beautiful displays fill up so much of what was once empty space. Seashells clutter up every single inch along her window sills, glowing warm and bright underneath the beach sun. Every strange and intricate bit of seaweed that's been left for her sways on the ceiling to her porch, staying there in the wind until they grow brittle and fall apart. Bottles, some clear and others deep with color, are used for so much storage, and reflect rainbows against her kitchen floors from where she keeps them and where the sun hits.

Her home feels like a home, thanks to all those little things.

Instead of an immediate response, however, he seems to hesitate. "I, uh..." He glances down to their joined hands, swallows, and hastily looks up again. "I... don't... have any?"

An exasperated laugh bubbles out of her. Now he's _definitely_ not intimidating at all. "How did you get out here if you don't have any shorts?" she asks. "And _really_ , if you're going to go around naked, you can't expect people to never see you." She's not scolding him, not really, just exasperated and fond despite that. "Listen, I can get you a towel from my place if you're _really_ embarrassed, so you can come in and let me patch you up, okay? But-" Biting her lip and steadfastly ignoring the way her ears heat up pink, Kyoko redirects her gaze skyward. "I don't mind. I mean, I won't look if you just want to come out."

She's a huge liar, and she half expects the waves to strike her down for it right where she stands.

In her grip, his fingers twitch against her skin anxiously, and he's biting his own lip in turn when she finally gets herself to look down. "It's okay, really! I'll just get seaweed to wrap around it, and then it'll be fine. It's good for that kind of thing!"

That takes her for a loop, and Kyoko blinks at him. "Wait- you can weave seaweed together well enough to make clothing for yourself?" In her minds eye, she can only imagine him draping seaweed over his hips to hide his modesty.

For a second, he's clearly just as confused in the way he stares at her. "Huh? Oh-" Jolting a little, he wildly shakes his head back and forth. "No, no! I meant for my hand, to fix it! I mean, some people do that kind of thing, but, me, I'm fine with just my shells..." The more he talks, the more his voice dips quieter, until he's mumbling and hard to hear.

Not that it matters, since Kyoko's attention is snagged on something much more important. "You can't use seaweed on your hand!" she protests, leaning closer. "What if the cut gets infected!? You've already been out here on the rocks..." Why is it that so much that comes out of his mouth only serves to make her more concerned... Really concerned, honestly. It's like he doesn't know how to take care of himself, suggesting seaweed like that. Has no one taught him anything? Actually, now that she thinks about it, where does he even live? She's never seen him around town, and she knows for a fact that she's the only person who lives so far out away from town. Or... Does he live on the beach as well, and he lives in some cave nearby that she hasn't had a chance to discover? All of that rushes through her head, and it takes her a fumbling second to choose which ones leave her mouth. "Besides, seaweed will dry out and fall off before you can get home, probably!"

"It won't get dry!" Almost as soon as the protest leaves the boy's mouth, he pauses, eyes wide in the telltale sign of someone who's said something they didn't really mean to. Hastily, he adds, "I'll be fine, I promise! I'll probably run into one of my friends before I get home, and they'll help, so it'll be okay, probably! Um, um..." He looks around helplessly before looking back to her, his hand pulling out of her grip. "Did you like the things I left you?"

Cautiously, she takes another small step closer towards him. "I already said I did," she reminds him. "It's part of the reason why I invited you to my home, remember." He's clearly trying to derail, but what he doesn't know is that she's had to deal with her brother fumbling through lies of his own to hide some of his less professional 'matches'. With Ryohei, Kyoko lets it slide. He's her brother, after all. Even though she made him promise to her when they were little that he wouldn't get into any actual fights, she knows that any he would get into would have to be for a good reason. While this warm eyed sea salt boy is cute and nice, she has no reason to give him the same. "What do you mean you won't get dry?"

Hunching his shoulders up to his ears, the boy tries to shrink behind his rock all the more. "Nothing! I just swim a lot!"

Another step, and she's much closer now. With how his eyes are darting anxiously side to side, she should feel guilty for pressing so much... but he's hiding something, and she can't help but want to find out what it is. Either he's not really naked, or he _is_ and he's just super embarrassed about it. Still, if that's the case, why not tell her that he doesn't want to come and for her to just go away? Delicately, she presses her hand against the rock he's at and watches his face turn brilliant crimson. "You know, if you stay in the water for too long, it'll ruin your skin." With that, she steps ever closer with nearly her whole body up against the rock as she tries to stand on the tips of her toes-

"No no no-!" Squawking, he tries to dig his fingers tighter into the rock as if trying to shrink _into_ it, but his hands or the rock or the air must be far too wet. With a yelp, he slips right off, and she gives a startled cry of her own as she dives forward with her hands outstretched. A story would have her catch him just in time... but instead, she misses completely and he goes splashing right down into the shallows. Halfway on top of the rock, she tries to see how he is... but her eyes widen at the sight. So focused on what's before her, she doesn't realize she's slipping herself... not until she's already falling into the water herself, knees and hands banging into the rocks. There are only aches, no stinging that would tell her something's been cut, yet Kyoko doesn't even notice.

She was right. He _is_ naked. He's just... a very different kind of naked than she ever could have imagined.

There are no legs past his waist, no genitals like hers or like another human's. Instead, there are _scales_ , everything merging together to form a long and enormous tail that shines from where it rises up in the water. Sunlight catches along beautiful shades of red, orange, and pale white, and his fins fan out gently with every breath he takes. It has to be longer than she is, and her breath is so caught that she almost doesn't realize he's staring at her with wide eyes and trembling brows. "Oh," she breathes out quietly, words stolen from her.

Immediately, he begins to scramble towards her. The water isn't deep enough for him to swim at all, and his tail fills up the shallows that now seem small in comparison. Instead, he has to pull and drag himself along by his hands, frantic and flushed. "Are you okay!?"

Asking her to pay attention to her own body when this marvelous sight is in front of her is an almost impossible task; how can she bother to pay attention to it with this in front of her? After a few seconds, however, she finally looks down to catalog herself. "I'm okay!" she says, breathless from fall and amazement alike. She's wet, now, and a little bruised, a little scraped, but she's had worse. As long as the sun is shining, she won't be cold, and that's all that's important to her right now as she looks up to stare at him again. The confirmation of good health has already drawn his shoulders back down in relief, but they jolt up again when she quietly says, "You have a tail."

Shrinking back, he tries to cover up his lower half with his hands. Unfortunately for him, he only has two, and the sheer size of his tail means he'd need a whole lot more than that. "Nooooo," he says regardless, before giving up on that incredibly poor lie right away. "Well, okay, yes. But don't tell anyone! _Please_."

Getting up onto her knees, adjusting her dress where it clings to her body, Kyoko leans forward. "Your tail is _beautiful_ ," she tells him earnestly, and watches in keen interest as he straightens up and some of his fins seem to flare out. "But I won't tell anyone about you if you don't want me to. Not even my brother." Now that she thinks about it, perhaps especially not Ryohei. While she loves him dearly, and knows that he doesn't have a cruel bone in his body, he can be rather _loud_.

"You really do- I mean." He shakes his head, chasing away whatever other thought he had begun. "I don't want to... I'm not supposed to let anyone see me."

Despite how he'd cut himself off, Kyoko answers his question anyway with a smile. "I do," she promises him, keeping her eyes on his face despite how much she wants to look down at him and follow the movement she can see from the corner of his eye. His tail always seems to be moving along with his thoughts and feelings, in a variety of little ways, and she wants so badly to watch- but no. "And I promise that I won't tell anyone, _really_."

Shyly, he ducks his head down. "Thank you." He peeks up from beneath his bangs to meet her eyes again. "Um- I'm Tsuna." There's a loud _slap_ as his tail rises up out of the water and then flops back down again.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Tsuna." And it really is, even if she could never have imagined this. Clearly, her invitation into her house would never have worked at all. In the face of such an unbelievable thing, Kyoko's mind doesn't know what else to do besides focus on the mundane. Perhaps she could take pictures of everything, bring them down in a plastic bag. That would let him know how dear it all is to her, wouldn't it?

Despite her attempts, however, her eyes remain on Tsuna and her thoughts keep straying back to him. Nearly bursting with anxious energy, he fiddles with his fingers underneath her gaze and glances around as if looking for someone that would get him in trouble for talking with her. She wants to ask so much about him, the longer she stares, but it would feel a little cruel to do so. After all... He's already proved he's a _horrible_ liar.

Tsuna's voice interrupts her see-sawing thoughts. "I've... I've really wanted to talk to you for a long time too."

The way he's so nervous just talking to her settles her thoughts, somehow, and puts her at ease. Really, it seems to be a talent of his, whether someone spying to see how his gifts are received or a mysterious sea being that's part human and part fish. Well, now she's here and willing to listen to him. "What sort of things did you want to talk about?" she asks, shifting to make herself comfortable. It's then that she realizes how uncomfortable her dress has gotten, cold and clinging from the water. Well, she guesses she'll have to deal. Unless...

"Well..." Oblivious to her thoughts, Tsuna continues to talk. "Just... talking, about normal things. Or maybe they're not normal to you?" He runs his fingers through his hair, dislodging bits of kelp that have apparently been stuck in there and working to get them out. "I don't know what human are like, besides what everyone else says."

"What does everyone say?" Finally coming to a decision, Kyoko pushes herself up onto her feet. She reaches down, peeling the wet dress off from where it sticks to her skin so that she can drape it across the higher rocks where water won't reach it but the sun can. With a little knot of anxious curiosity bundling up in her stomach, she glances back over her shoulder at Tsuna before tentatively glancing back towards the shore. No one is coming... "I can tell you how right they are, and we can go from there."

"Well..." When she'd looked to the shore, he had, and it's as he starts to look back up at her that Kyoko begins to undo the clasps of her bra to drape it across the rocks as well. As much as she tries to seem completely casual while sinking back down to sit in the water- there's no point in a dry dress if her bra is wet too!- her heart is thudding in her chest. It's not that she's ashamed of her body, or hasn't gone nude on the beach before... It's just that usually she's been careful that no other people saw her. Now, however, well... She gives him a tiny little glance to gauge his reaction, taking note of how he's staring at her with wide eyes... Before he exclaims, "There was something _under_ it?!"

Well. She's not sure what she was expecting, but it certainly wasn't _that_. In hindsight, however, it feels like it should have been obvious. "Yes!" she says, laughing. "The first piece I took off, the biggest one, that's called a dress. The second piece of clothing is my bra, and the third piece that I'm still wearing are my panties. Together, bra and panties make underwear." If someone had told her only a couple of hours ago that she would be giving a merman lessons on human clothing, she would never have believed them.

At least Tsuna is an attentive student, leaning forward as he listens carefully. His gaze keeps flicking down to her underwear; at least now she knows not to think anything of it. It's obvious what about this whole situation really has his attention. "Why?" he asks as he starts to reach out, before pulling back in a fluster. Kyoko only smiles at him. She has a feeling he wouldn't do anything to her that she's not fine with. "I mean, why not just wear the underwear, why do you need the dress too?"

"Ah..." Tipping her head back, she hums up to the sky. "That's a good question. There are a lot of things humans do that don't make sense to a lot of them. A lot of the time, we do them because that's what we grew up doing... But clothing..." She taps her chin thoughtfully with one finger. "A lot of people think it's rude to go around showing all of your skin. Some of them even think that girls should wear more clothing than boys. My best friend Hana's family was like that, but then she moved out, so they don't get a say in what she wears anymore." Then again, it's frankly amazing that they got a say in the first place, with how sharp witted and independent Hana can be. That's what Kyoko has always liked about her.

Tsuna fiddles with the shells around his neck, thoughts so obviously tumbling about in his head. "That sounds... weird. Is that bad to say?"

Grinning over at him, Kyoko doubts there's even a single trace of upset on her face. Not only does it make perfect sense coming from a boy who's only ever apparently worn jewelry around his neck, but... "You can definitely call anything you want to about human stuff. I won't mind. In fact, I even moved out here because I don't like a lot of it." Still, even as she says it... A sigh rustles out of her, the smile fading a little from her face. Adjusting her position so that she can curl against a rock, one arm draped over it, and presses her cheek against her hand. This way, she's not too deep in the water. "My brother doesn't notice a lot of the stuff, and Hana either ignores it or uses it to her advantage... but I couldn't hide with either of them forever." Even if she knew they'd both welcome her for years, maybe even forever, she hadn't wanted to impose for too long. And it'd been too stifling, staying in that town all the time. Shaking her head a little against her hand, Kyoko brightens up once more. "Besides, if I hadn't moved out here, then I wouldn't have met you."

With just enough hesitance that it's obvious, Tsuna tries to subtly shift over to be nearer to her. It's not very successful, considering the sheer amount of tail he has to haul around with him as he does so. "So you _are_ a girl?" he asks.

Not moving as to not scare him away, Kyoko hums. "Yep, I'm a girl." Her eyes drift down the curve of his throat where it meets his firm shoulders. "If you were a human, you'd be a boy. do you not have rules like that?" After a moment of thought, she reaches over to lightly press the tips of her fingers against one of the many seashells that make up his necklace. Airily, half to herself than anything, she murmurs, "You gave me one like this one, with the same colors."

His mouth, starting to open in answer to her question, snaps shut, and he nods his head shyly with a flush burning up his cheeks. All he does is a simple quiet nod. For a moment, she ponders telling him about how it's one of her favorite things that she's ever gotten from him, and how she keeps it close to her bed, where it greets her every morning, shining brilliantly on sunny days and making everything feel warm on the cloudier ones. Still, that would possibly lead her to having to tell him about what a bed is, which could lead to everything else, so when he continues to talk, she lets him change the topic. "I'm a him right now, but I could be a her, too." Still trying to be subtle and not entirely managing it, he glances over her body again before hastily looking up at her face. From anyone else, she'd assume they were checking her out. "So you're always a girl?"

Blinking, she tilts her head to the side, and her hair follows with the motion, sliding down from her shoulder. "You can change?" she asks, marveling at this new bit of information. "That's so interesting. We can try to wear different clothes, or act differently, to make people think we're a he or a her... But bodies are different." For a second she has to pause and think over her words. "It's difficult to change them. Sometimes it's painful."

He reaches out, hesitating only a little in the middle, before he settles his hand on her thigh. The coolness of his skin shoots a shiver up her spine, but... There's nothing invasive about it. No groping, no fondling, no venturing up to places where she'd have to give further permission. Instead, he merely strokes along a small little spot, bumping into her knee, and she realizes it's because he's sympathizing with her. What a funny thing to sympathize with someone over, but then again... From his perspective, maybe it really is a lack, as much as anyone would express concern over an inability to run or sing or anything else. "Is that why you hide? Because you're a girl, or because it's hard to live like that?"

Well, now they're going into slightly personal territory, although not exactly _private_. Kyoko wrinkles her nose. "I'm not sure if you've got anything like it," she says, "but I'm not... entirely respectable? My brother and I are half siblings."

Sure enough, he blinks blankly at her. "How are you half?"

"We have different mothers," she says simply. "His was married to our father, and mine was an unmarried dancer." Even now, Kyoko doesn't even know her name. Her father had never told her, and neither had her other mother, although both of them had done their best to care for her regardless of anything else.

Even though it's a simple explanation, Tsuna's brows crumple together in confusion. "And that's... bad?" he ventures.

"I don't think so." Carelessly, Kyoko shrugs. "My brother doesn't, either, and neither does Hana. But some people- some humans- think it makes me not as good as them, or that there was something wrong with my family." No sadness weighs down her voice as she speaks of those simple facts. It took a long time, although that freedom is at least a good few years past now, but she's since disregarded whatever thoughts other people have on her. It's a lonelier life, but a happier one. How could she ever live for so long stifled as she was, all her passion smothered under the expectations and demands that other people made of her despite having no connection to the life she lives? It's better this way, to be able to toss aside their attempts to control her, and their hypocrisy in that the allow her to teach their children dancing steps but their sons will turn their noses up at her.

She doesn't care about any of them... especially not now. Not when someone so much better has found her, all on his own.

That someone better flops forward, pressing his face against her arm. "I think you're good," he says, muffled, lips brushing against her skin. People who are half fish must be so much more open to casual touch than regular humans, and Kyoko smiles down at Tsuna as she reaches up with her free hand to rest it in his hair. It shouldn't be so soft, considering how much time he spends in the saltwater.

"I know," she answers simply. "I would have been okay out here, I think, without your gifts, and without meeting you, but I'm much happier that you're here and that you gave them to me." That's a lot to say when they've only just met, she knows, and that his existence will be a heavy secret, she _knows_... but she's not doubting herself, either. Living now, living in this moment, everything feels like it's going to be alright in the end.

Against her skin, she can feel his face heat up white hot, and the fins (are they fins?) along his tail flare up once more. She doesn't feel _quite_ as bad staring at them when he's burrowing his face against her arm. "You... You're just really pretty, and nice. I thought maybe you'd like them."

Lazily touching his hair a little more, her fingers threading through it, Kyoko laughs a little more. "I'm not really all that nice," she admits. "Just polite. It makes me _seem_ nice."

"You're definitely nice," he mutters, still against her arm.

Kyoko shakes her head but doesn't argue with him on it. Instead, she continues. "But I will accept being pretty, thank you. What else do other people say about humans?" She can't let that line of conversation stay adrift and forgotten for too long, after all. Besides, she wants to keep him with her for a while longer, the two of them talking together like this in the lazy ocean sun.

That question finally has him quirk his head up to look at her, nose nudging against her. "Well... One of my friends said that the reason you wear clothing at all is to hide weapons under it all. Since they're- you're- so bad at swimming, and you're really soft."

Is that what they look like to fish people? Kyoko subtly glances between herself and Tsuna, trying to gauge the differences. "Hmmm," she humans, taking in the only major difference between them that's immediately obvious, which starts at their hips and goes down. "Your friend is a little right. Some humans do carry weapons in their clothing, but it's nowhere near all of us. And besides, some of us are softer than others. My brother can fight with his hands very well, he doesn't need a weapon." Meeting Tsuna's eyes once more, she grins. "I'm the best dancer, and probably the best swimmer in town, but I still probably seem horrible next to you." After all, the colors and shape of fish can mean a lot to people. It's obvious how brightly colored Tsuna is, and that tends to mean one of a couple of things, when it comes to sealife.

With all the questions he's asked her, however... Kyoko bites her lip a little. It should be more than fair to ask one of her own in return, right? "Are all of your friends like you? I mean, do they all have the same kind of tail as you?"

Tsuna draws back, blinking in confusion, and that sort of answers her question even before he opens his mouth to respond to it. "No... Of course not. I mean-" One of his hands rises up, flailing a little bit to describe something where his words momentarily falter. "Some do, of course, but there are a lot of different people and tails to match. Why would there only be one kind of tail?"

"So why would every human carry a weapon?" she asks him right back, laughing when he goes right back to blushing.

"Yeah, but-" He gives up before the protest can really start to begin, ducking his head with a flustered pout.

That seems like he's taking it well, at least. "I don't know," she continues, "so I'm curious. You've at least heard some things about humans even if they aren't all correct. I didn't even know there were beautiful people with tails living in the ocean." Hopefully that will give him a way out, too. After all, he did sort of toe around the answer he gave her, and Kyoko can tell there were a few spots he hesitated on. That's fine. She's not bothered or anything. With how much he's been hiding, he's probably going to be in trouble if anyone finds out he was talking to her at all. There's no reason to get him into more of it.

After a few seconds of seeming to struggle with it all in his own head, Tsuna finally seems to give up, shrugging helplessly. "I was told humans were dangerous," he says, and the pleasant feeling that's been buoying Kyoko's heart starts to falter from that one sentence alone. He keeps going. "I mean, maybe not individually, because you're a good one, but..." He frowns a little. "Mean things have happened to other creatures that interact with them."

Frowning in sympathy, Kyoko goes back to resting her head against her arm. "I know. That's why I'll never tell anyone about you." She wouldn't for anyone in such a vulnerable position, but especially not for someone like Tsuna. Too shy, too flustered, too much a lot of things. It'd be like kicking a puppy while they're down. "Even my brother is dangerous on accident, sometimes." One of her fingers rub idly against a smooth spot against the rock. "Humans aren't nice to each other, let alone to people they don't understand..." Even if it's on the more minor scale of things, she knows that well. "They get scared of things a lot, and when they're scared, they're even more dangerous."

"Not even people..." He pauses, uncertainty warring on his face when Kyoko looks back to him. Before she has a chance, he forges ahead. "I know someone who gets really upset, because humans do cruel things to sharks, and it gets him angry. He says that's crueler than even orcas."

Blinking, Kyoko raises up off the rocks, and Tsuna shifts back away from her as she does so. "Oh- oh, I'm sorry. I don't- I didn't know." She bites down on her lip. "They're probably right about that." All this time, she's been only thinking of Tsuna, and people like Tsuna, as closer to a human like her, but that's only half the story, isn't it? They're half something else, too, and she wonders just how close they are to their animal counterparts. Her teeth start working on her lower lip again. "Even though we're close to the sea... We don't really have a port here. I don't know much about other areas." As much as she's longed to leave, it's been difficult to pool those kind of resources together. She's lived here her whole life. "A lot of humans finds sharks scary. Their eyes are so different than ours, and they have so many teeth... A lot of them are big, too." She shakes her head. "I'm not saying what anyone does to hurt a shark is right for them to do, I just- ...That's part of why they do it."

The entire time she's been talking, Tsuna has wrapped his arms loosely around himself, and his fingers trace vague shapes into the skin of his arms. "I can understand being scared," he says slowly. "But he gets really worked up about it." His eyes go back to where the ocean sea is, waves still rolling along the surface. "He said... If a human ever caught any of us, they'd cut off our fins and then dump us back in the water to die, just like the sharks."

A horrible clenching feeling takes over her heart, just listening to him talk about it all, and she wraps her arms around herself as if she can suppress the ache. "Not all humans," she says, the comment simultaneously a defense and a foray into something she knows that is much worse. "I want to say not even a lot of them would, but..." She can't, not in good conscience. "Yes. Some of them would do that to you." Even as she talks, she watches him shrink back into himself, and it hurts to keep talking. "Or they would..." Finally, she looks away, staring down into the water between them. "...They would take you away from the ocean and do tests on you. See if they could find out everything about you, and whether or not there were others like you."

Across from her, she can hear his fins shifting up and through the water, disturbing it further. "That sort of thing... is really scary to me." Slowly, she glances over to him from underneath her bangs. The water is high enough to roll across her breasts when she sits down like this, but it's clear, too. From within, she can see the way that his fingers are curling uneasily beneath the surface. "I'm sort of a coward, and I scare really easily, and I don't want to be taken from all my friends. But, still..." One hand raises up, going to curl upwards, maybe near his neck. She's still not really looking up. "But, I still really wanted to leave things for you. And... I'm kind of glad that I can talk to you like this!" Finally, she draws her gaze upwards to find him smiling sheepishly at her.

Rising up, water pouring down her body, she begins to wade a little further into the water. It's a little difficult, with how the ground doesn't seem decided on where it dips or is too soft, but she manages. She's a seaside girl at the very heart of her; she knows how to navigate the shallows. "I would rather you have to stay away," she says, "than to ever think of that happening to you." Even if she hasn't really been speaking to him that long, Kyoko knows that much. Besides, his self-assessment of himself as a coward doesn't really seem true, not with how he's come to see her anyway even with the things he's been told. But then, that's because... Far enough from the rock now, she starts to point along the beach. "I'm glad I can talk to you too. My beach is, well, it _should_ be safe. The only other people besides me or my brother or Hana who come here tend to be teenagers who just want to makeout. You can usually hear them from where they come in from town, so you should know when to hide." Her fingers goes to another outcropping of rocks. "Between these two sets of rocks is what I guess you could say is my territory, so other humans won't really go near it. I don't get a lot of visitors." With her hand swinging back down to her side, she looks down at Tsuna with the expectation that he'll have been following the swing of her finger. Instead, he's looking up at her, brows crumpled together in something almost hopeful.

"So..." He says the words carefully, cautious as an outstretched hand. "It's alright if I come back again?"

The way he speaks, the tentative smile on his face, has her fidget on the spot. "I'd really like it if you did," she tells him, smiling right back. This doesn't feel like something she'll regret. "I have to go into town some days, but, maybe.. Is there something you can see easily if I put it out, to let you know if I'm home or not?"

"Well..." He glances around for a moment before looking back up at her. "Is your home by the sea too?"

She blinks a couple of times, caught off-guard. "You didn't know?" she asks.

Immediately, his face starts to go rosy once more, and he ducks his head, hastily shaking it. "No- I never stayed around that long, so, I was never sure..."

So he only ever stayed around long enough to make sure that she got her gift of the day... Smiling fondly, she turns around again to point up towards the dunes and sea grass. There, her little cottage rests there on higher ground. Now that she's looking at it from here, however, it has her mind churning. "Maybe if I put out one of the tableclothes or some sort of colorful clothing, from the attic window..."

Around her, he cranes his neck to finally pay attention to what she's talking about as well. "Over there... I think so." After a second, he gives a more confident nod. "Yeah, I think that could work!"

"Great!" Beaming, she looks back down to him before something hits her, and she places a hand against her cheek. "Oh, and I can't go very deep into the water... But, maybe sometime-" Well, it's a little embarrassing to ask this. Still, ask it she will. Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, she says, "If you were okay with it, I'd like to see you swim."

It's just a silly little request, right? Something that she can't help but be curious about, now that she's properly met him. At least, that's what she thinks, before Tsuna jolts up so fast he nearly crashes into her, and has to flail to regain his balance before he does so, or before he falls back into the water. "Yes!" he blurts out, oblivious to her outstretched hands where she's worried he'll fall again. Even as he looks up at her, his eyes are wide and shining. "I want you to see me swim!

Her own eyes are wide, too, not expecting such an enthusiastic response. "Oh! Does it- is it important?" She'd asked out of curiosity and whim, but maybe there's more to it than she thought.

"I, sort of, a lot, yes-" Getting the words out seems to be an almost impossible task, and his hands hastily rise up to hide his face. Even with that shielding his expression from view, it's easy to see how brilliantly red his cheeks burn. Maybe even his whole face. "I can't wait... Aaaaah, but I'm not ready! What if I get it wrong, or mess up!?"

It's just swimming. Clearly, since he's lived in the water his whole life, he _obviously_ knows how to swim. It's like her with walking. Just something most people know how to do, right? So what exactly is it that she's stumbled upon...? Tsuna's excitement only makes her all the more interested in finding out. Is it really important, or is it just something of his own preference that has him so worked up? Stepping down a little more into the water, she ghosts the tips of her fingers down his shoulder to his arm. "How long do you need to practice?" she asks. "I could go up and get my goggles, since I won't be able to see underwater anyway without them... Would that be enough time?" And probably her swimsuit, too. While she doesn't really care if she's nude or not, especially around someone who doesn't see any reason why to wear any clothes at all, it's still a better idea in case anyone comes out to the beach.

There's no immediate answer, with Tsuna silent and his various fins quivering. After a second, he peeks inbetween his fingers. "How long would that take?" he asks, tentative.

"Um..." She thinks it over in her head for a quick moment. There's going up the dunes, which would take a few minutes, and she'd want to dump her dress into the laundry, but she knows where her swimsuit is... "Fifteen minutes, maybe?" Do fish people even tell time in the same way as humans? It suddenly occurs to her that she should have thought of that, first.

Whether he knows or not, Tsuna shakes his head. "Definitely not!"

Hmmm... "How about this," she suggests. "We'll keep seeing each other every other day, if you want to, and you can tell me when you're ready to show me how you swim whenever. Does that sound good?"

It takes a little bit, possibly so that he can breathe a little and calm down, but soon enough he nods with his hands slowly sliding away from bright red cheeks. "We'll see each other tomorrow?"

Reaching over with a grin, Kyoko squeezes his hand. "We'll see each other tomorrow."

* * *

 **Author's Note** : Started writing this for Mermay, was only able to finally finish it a couple days into June, ended up forgetting to edit it for most of that month AND the following... So at last here this little piece is! Based off of a roleplay a friend of mine and I once did, although I'll be going other places with the fic. I'll update it sporadically inbetween my other projects; this was just meant to be a thing for Mermay after all. As a note, there will be other ships involved in this, inevitably, even with Tsuna and Kyoko themselves. Anyway, hope you enjoyed reading to this point!


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